Jacqui Lambie and her contribution to the development of the English language

Every year, reputable dictionaries publishes a list of new words that they will be including in their next dictionary. The addition of these words to the lexicon as reflection of popular usage and the fact that the language is constantly developing. Everyone knows Shakespeare’s contribution to the language, words that were not used before, or at least did not appeared in print.

Now, Jacqui Lambie is emerging as Australia’s very own Shakespeare.

With the advent of TV and Internet communications such as Twitter and Facebook, it is easier to invent, circulate, and monitor new words.

Last night on 7.30, the semi-articulate Senator put in a bid for her contribution with, “Malcolm Turnbull has comatosed the Australian people.”

It’s a simple but effective change. Commatose is an adjective meaning, amongst other things, torpid,inactive, lethargic, sluggish, lifeless. Lambie has turned a word into a verb, its meaning being to make torpid, inactive, lethargic, sluggish, lifeless.

It’s an excellent innovation because it describes very well the verbal activities of our Prime Minister who is currently lulling the nation, and himself, to sleep.

This use of the word deserves much wider use and one can only hope that its application as a verb, applying to the anodyne utterances of Malcolm Turnbull, will see it including the lexicon.